Kale and Roasted Almond Pesto

Circle B Kitchen

This recipe is an amalgamation of several that I've come across online. I switched things up a bit more to create a super flavorful sauce without the hefty dose of calories found in most pestos. We're not real crazy about the sharp bite of raw garlic, so I threw the garlic clove in to blanch with the kale and that did the trick, giving the pesto just a hint of garlic. If you'd like more garlic presence, just throw another clove or 2 of garlic in the blanching water.

6 oz kale (1 bunch), leaves stems removed, blanched and squeezed of moisture

1/3 cup of toasted almonds

1/2 teaspoon chili flakes

1 clove of garlic (blanched with the kale)

1/3 cup of grated romano or Parmesan

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/2 teaspoons salt

reserved kale blanching water

Heat oven to 375F. (I use my toaster oven)

To blanch the kale, place it and the clove of garlic in a pan of lightly boiling, salted water for 3 minutes. Drain (reserving a cup of the cooking water) and place in ice water. Squeeze dry.

Place the almonds on a small baking sheet and roast for 7-8 minutes or until almonds are golden brown.

Place the almonds in a food processor then add the kale, garlic, chili flakes, lemon juice, salt and cheese. Process until roughly chopped, then drizzle in your olive oil. Continue processing until you have a fairly smooth pesto. You can add some of the kale blanching water to loosen the pesto if you like.

Taste it for salt or more cheese or even more oil, the pesto should have a nice movement to it when stirred.